Have you read Liz Gilbert’s book Big Magic? There are so many great ideas to ponder in this short gem of a book. I’m re-listening to the audio version this week as I zip between work and directing Brigadoon in Freeport, Maine; we open on 8/30 – oh, my!
Here are my big reminders from Liz: Continue reading
How much do you know of your family history?
You most likely know back one generation to your parents. Maybe you knew your grandparents. And maybe you were lucky enough to know your great grandparents. After that, things usually get a little fuzzy. But how much do you know about any of them – even those who have been part of your life? Continue reading
I don’t know about you but I tend to eat the same types of food for long periods of time. Before I gave up meat, I had a year where I ate roast chicken weekly if not daily. Another year it was turkey on pita. The year I was pregnant with my second daughter, it was roast beef sandwiches. When Bea was born, she weighed just under 11 pounds and was almost 2 feet tall. She is clearly made of iron!
I gave up meat about 12 years ago but still have binge foods – spinach, salmon, nuts. Recently, my daily fare includes spicy almonds and guacamole. These aren’t bad for me, but when you eat the same foods over and over, you can overwhelm your body with certain “same” ingredients. And you may miss out on hearing cues your body is telling you about new things to eat. Continue reading
Smoothies are all the rage and when you drink one, you feel awesome. You just consumed enough fruit and vegetables to get you through the day!
The goal is wonderful, but the vehicle isn’t.
Here’s the thing. Liquids process so quickly in your body, your body hardly knows they’re there. That’s true no matter what you drink which is why water is always your best bet.
But you drink smoothies partly for the fiber they contain. Doesn’t that take a little longer for your body to process? Nope. Continue reading
When I was working my way up through the business world, I had very few bosses I emulated. It appeared to me that to “make it” to the top, you had to work 100 hours a week and expect your employees to do the same. You had to be somewhat cut-throat and keenly competitive with others at your level within the organization. And it didn’t appear that empathy had anything to do with business.
I know a lot of that still goes on but was encouraged to read an article today in The Washington Post by Aaron Gregg and Thomas Heath about three executives from the DC area who were rated “the highest” by their employees. These are bosses you can look up for who they are – as well as for what they accomplish.
What’s cool is that these principles apply whether you’re running a small, medium, or large company. And they apply if you aren’t running a company at all! They’re simply great life ideas. Continue reading
I’m traveling this week spending time with family at a quiet beach on the “forgotten coast” of Florida. My work consists of chatting, eating, kayaking, biking, walking, writing, and reading. It’s bliss :).
Here’s a quick reminder from poet Mary Oliver about how important it is to participate, truly participate, in your life. Thanks to Jonathan Fields at The Good Life Project for posting this earlier this week. Continue reading
I’m a big believer in following a high energy path with anything you’re working on. If you don’t feel energy at the center of your body when you think about next steps in what you’re doing, it may be time for a change.
Eye rolls and sighs are your body’s clue that you’re on a low energy path. Sometimes these are obvious – oh, my! But sometimes only you can see and hear them like maybe when: Continue reading
One of the cool things about bringing programs to our library is that I get to choose the topics and speakers, and I get to attend! I have learned so much over the last two years about squirrels, birds, writing, songwriting, democracy, art, travel, and much more.
Last week I had a new author in, John Eric Baugher, to talk about his book Contemplative Caregiving: Finding Healing, Compassion, and Spiritual Growth Through End-of-Life Care. Here are seven things I learned from John’s 25+ years of working in hospice that every end-of-life caregiver should know.
And honestly, I’m posting these today because they’re great advice for all of us no matter what we’re tasked with. Continue reading
We had Christopher Phillips in as a speaker at the library this week. Chris is the author of Socrates Cafe and Democracy Cafe which we used to model some of our programs at the library. Chris is an interesting, engaging, fun guy so we asked him back to talk about his latest book, A Child at Heart: Unlocking Your Creativity, Curiosity, and Reason at Every Age and Stage of Life.
Here are some of my favorite take-aways from Chris’s talk: Continue reading
